Five Questions with WE

Jessica Naziri

Founder and CEO, TechSesh

Jessica Naziri is an entrepreneur and founder of TechSesh, a digital lifestyle magazine for women in the tech industry and STEM, dedicated to helping women advance into positions of leadership and influence. Through keynotes, workshops, and webinars, she shares steps women can take to succeed. Jessica is a writer, social media influencer and content strategist for brands like Qualcomm, Dell and Samsung. Jessica was recently listed number one on Inc.'s 30 Inspirational Women in Tech and included in 2018’s Persian Women in Tech and Create and Cultivate’s Top 100 Women in Tech. Her work has appeared in the LA Times, CBS, Fox, TechCrunch, and Mashable, to name a few.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE INFLUENCE?

Influence is about awareness. Everyone's an influencer, in one way or another. Early on in the tech space, I didn’t see anyone that looked or sounded like me. I had to fight gender stereotyping in STEM career fields. I realized I could have an impact. To me, that's influence.

WHAT COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS ARE ON THE RISE AND DECLINE?

Facebook is dead. Nobody uses Snapchat anymore. The major hitters are Instagram—we see 400 million views on Instagram stories a day! – and Twitter. Twitter is how I begin looking at the news in the morning; it’s the fastest way to get news all in one place. Podcasts are another interesting channel. Video killed the radio star, but podcasts are the future.

WHAT TRENDS ARE CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE OF INFLUENCE?

Technology continues to influence the evolution of many different fields, particularly influence. Anyone can become an influencer now. Consumer tech and phones have given everyone the ability to document content. As computing gets bigger and easier while everything becomes cheaper, we also see a steep rise, sophistication, and volume of threats against cybersecurity. As we're adopting more modernized technology, moving to the public cloud, and making more use of application software pipelines, we really have an ability and an opportunity to embed and bring automation to security.

WHAT APP CAN’T YOU LIVE WITHOUT?

I'm conservative when it comes to the apps on my phone. If I don't use an app at least once a week, it gets axed. Instagram is the app I use 24/7. Building relationships with my followers is the cornerstone of my business. I don't get to meet all my fans in person, but Instagram allows us to develop key relationships from afar. It's critical in enabling us to have the personal touch that we feel is so important in growing our TechSesh brand.

IN ONE SENTENCE, WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF CAREER ADVICE YOU WISH YOU COULD GIVE YOUR YOUNGER SELF?

You don’t need to apologize for someone bumping into you, being passionate, asking for permission, raising children or saying no.